10 Best Indie Music Blogs

Independent music blogs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are there to cover a wide range of interests. Okay, so the one thing they tend to have in common is a penchant for guitar-based bands, but indie websites and blogs are just as likely to be interested in unsigned electronica and crossover acts as they are in traditional indie music. You will even find some which get into the folkier artists, so long as the music remains independent and largely self-penned. Not all indie music blogs are about up and coming artists – although most are, it should be said. This list is about blogs which are for fans of independently produced music only, especially focussing on indie rock. If you are looking for indie music blogs, then check out the following ones as a good starting place to get yourself into the scene.

This Canadian music blog feature regular updates, cool new indie artists, playlists and videos. What more could you want from an independent music blog? Pleasingly free from the influence of major label marketing teams, Indie Music Filter is a great place to discover something new. Perhaps you are looking for an artist with a similar style to someone you listen to already or perhaps you just want to pick up on a new catchy guitar riff to sink into. This site is able to deliver on both fronts time and again. There is a newsletter that you can sign up to, or simply browse the blog for the latest in indie music. The site has both regular and guest contributors, so it never feels to similar when you return to it.

This site is one that promotes the sort of independent music that will ‘move into your heart’. Run by Jason Harrison since 2010, Sirens of Decay picks only the choicest songs to be featured and is something more of a curator’s blog than a cutting edge new music page. There is a lot of music on the site to stream, including a great section on cover versions where you can hear indie artists taking on each others songs as well as tracks by very well-known artists with some fascinating interpretations.

This is the site for the slightly older indie music fan which bills itself as the blog for ‘outdated music’. If you are more into the new wave post punk scene of the early and mid 1980s and the counter corporate rock culture of the 1990s, then this is definitely the indie blog for you. Here, you will find posts about the hey day of the UK independent music scene, including bands like The Smiths. However, you can also use it to find out about demo recordings, rather than the finished thing, too. There is also a section dedicated to John Peel, the legendary former DJ and his Peel Sessions, where many independent bands first gained a wider audience.

At Indie Rock Cafe, you will find all of the latest DIY sounds including a section which is entirely dedicated to new releases. According to the site, its aim is to ‘connect talented musicians with music lovers’ all over the globe. Here, you will find mainstream indie artists like Vampire Weekend featured just as much as unsigned bands with only a few hundred followers.

Not a traditional, word-based blog as such, indieshuffle.com uses a clever algorithm to find new music for you to listen to which will match your tastes. Select a radio station to listen a specific genre, like indie rock, electronic or ambient for example, and it will play you all the latest independently produced music in that category from SoundCloud. This means you can discover a great new unsigned artist or indie band without any effort at all. If you are not finding anything that really hits the mark, try switching to the ‘popular this week’ function and check what other indie music fans are listening to.

Full of news, features and reviews, Obscure Sound is a well laid-out indie music blog which features some telling and informative artist interviews. Recent Obscure Sound interviews include those with White Panda, Orikami and Tigermilk. There is a cool ‘Top Albums’ section, too, which fans of indie music will enjoy.

As the name suggests, this site is for people who like to discover their new music when it is very new indeed. The site offers an indie artist of the week, so if all you want to do is to check out who is featured, then Indie Trend Setters will work for you. The site champions under rated indie bands who really deserve to reach a wider following so fans of the genre will always discover something that suits their style.

Specialising in under the radar bands who have yet to gain a large audience, Jungle Indie Rock has a regular top ten artists section which is updated to always provide something fresh and that little bit different. Along with videos and playlists, there is a proper blog and a page for gig listings, mostly focussed on the USA and Spain.

Based in Ireland, this site features blog entries on a wide range of music including dance and folk, but it is the new artist and indie/alternative sections that it is perhaps best-known for. The blog has been highlighting much of the best new musical talent coming out of Ireland for years, but there is plenty of information and reviews of UK-based indie bands, too.

This site is an ever-popular place for fans of indie music to read news, features and artist interviews. With some offbeat articles, like ’10 Most Depressing Summer Songs’, the blog often has unique angles on indie music. You will also find plenty to read on hip hop as well as indie rock bands.

There are of course, many other indie music blogs that could have made this list, such as ‘No Fear of Pop‘, ‘We Listen For You‘, and ‘Indie Junkie UK‘. However, those that have been featured here provide a real cross-section of what is on offer for the discerning indie music fan. Depending on your musical tastes, not every one of them will hit the mark, but there will be something that you end up returning to again and again.